Wyness in Old Firm swipe

Wyness says the Old Firm should focus on the SPL

Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness has told Rangers and Celtic they should abandon plans to quit playing in Scotland.

Wyness, whose team take on Celtic at Pittodrie on Saturday, believes the moves to join a more lucrative league were damaging their reputations.

Rangers and Celtic have both admitted that they are unable to compete with Europe's top clubs with the revenue they are able to generate in the Scottish Premier League.

But their favoured destination, the Barclaycard Premiership, appears to be a non-starter, after the 20 elite club chairmen voted overwhelmingly to keep the Scottish giants out.

I just hope new Rangers manager Alex McLeish, after all his success in Scotland, can be the voice of reason at Ibrox

Keith Wyness

However, Wyness told the Sun: "They are like two old girls in Sauchiehall Street raising their skirts to any league that walks past."

Last season, the two Glasgow giants had been busy lobbying Uefa to be allowed to set up a pan-European Atlantic League for so-called big clubs in smaller countries.

The Scottish clubs have also been linked with a move to join the proposed `Phoenix League', a breakaway which is being put forward as a second tier of the Barclaycard Premiership.

But Wyness said he believed the clubs were simply making fools of themselves and urged them to stay true to their roots.

He said: "I'm very disappointed with the way they are behaving. They are chasing any idea they can get to get out of Scotland.

"I just hope new Rangers manager Alex McLeish, after all his success in Scotland, can be the voice of reason at Ibrox."

Responding to the comments from Wyness, a Celtic spokesperson said: "Our interest is in a reorganisation of UK football and speculation has linked us with a variety of English league possibilites.

" We have never taken part in any formal dicussion about League reconstruction.

"This speculation has linked us indiscriminately with new leagues, for example the Phoenix league - we have never been part of any discussions. In the meantime we look forward to rejoining Aberdeen round the SPL table."